Samsung Electronics has announced its results for the first quarter of 2011. Revenue was up 7% year-on-year to 36.99 trillion Korean won (around £20.7 billion), net income was down 30% to 2.78 trillion won and consolidated operating profit was 2.95 trillion won.
The company says its Telecom, Semiconductor and Digital Media & Appliances divisions drove revenue growth in the quarter. However, lower semiconductor memory prices and reduced profitability in LCD panels and TV sets meant overall profitability was down.
Robert Yi, Vice President and Head of Samsung Electronics’ Investor Relations Team, said “A difficult business environment remained in the first quarter, due to rising costs of raw materials, uncertainties in the financial market in Europe, and the devastating earthquake in Japan. But we will actively respond to such challenges by enhancing cost competitiveness in memory products through geometry migration, launching new smartphones and tablet PCs, as well as increasing the sales focus on premium LCD panels and TVs.”
Samsung sold a total of 70 million mobile handsets during the quarter, down 14% year-on-year. Smartphones made up 18% of Samsung’s total handset sales for the quarter, up from 4% during the same period last year.